Lula: Children of femicide victims cannot be abandoned
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a law on Tuesday (Oct. 31) to provide a special pension for the children of femicide victims. This law, approved by the Senate earlier in the month, guarantees a benefit equal to one minimum wage for children under the age of 18 from low-income families who have lost their mothers to femicide.
"We must ensure that victims of violence do not have their children abandoned by the state. If the state failed to protect the victim and allowed them to become a target, then the state should at least take responsibility for caring for the children. Therefore, we aim to establish an allowance to guarantee that these children can receive an education, graduate, and eventually have the right to live with full citizenship in Brazil."
During his weekly "Conversation with the President" TV program, Lula praised the National Congress for passing the legislation, stating, "Step by step, we are gaining ground."
The law
The law specifies that allowance payments can be made even before the trial of the femicide case is concluded. If the courts do not determine that a femicide occurred, the payments will be suspended, and beneficiaries will not be required to repay the amounts received, unless bad faith is proven.
The law also prohibits individuals suspected of committing femicide or co-authoring the crime from receiving or managing the pension on behalf of their children. Furthermore, the pension cannot be accumulated with other Social Security benefits.
Data
Statistics for 2022 indicate a 6.1 percent increase in the number of femicides compared to the previous year, with 1,437 women losing their lives. The Brazilian Public Security Yearbook 2023 reports an increase in all forms of violence against women.
